Chapter 7

Emily's eyes widened as she lifted a shaky hand to her mouth. "Lee…" her voice cracked.

Lee spun around, jerked the door open, and stormed out of the room. Blinded by anger, he slammed into Billy standing in the hall.

"Lee, what happened?" Billy reached out to steady Lee who was visibly swaying on his feet.

Red-faced and too angry to speak, Lee's chest heaved as he struggled to stay standing. Between exhales, he stated, "Take me to my room...now."

Billy looked around for the wheelchair and quickly remembered it was still in the room. He glanced over at Agent Martin and ordered, "Give Scarecrow your seat until I get the wheelchair from Mrs. Farnsworth's room." Agent Martin blinked at him, bewildered.

"Get up, now!" Billy bellowed. Agent Martin jolted to his feet and watched as Billy guided Lee to the chair. "Find Dr. Lore and that orderly," he barked at Martin once more. The confused agent shuffled down the hall toward the nurses' station. "Lee, stay right here. I'm going to get your wheelchair and then you're going to tell me what the hell is going on."

Without waiting for Lee's reply, Billy slipped into Emily's room. He found her sitting up, silent tears streaming down her face. "Emily… do you need the nurse? Are you all right?"

Emily shook her head slowly as she uttered, "I didn't know they were here."

"Who... Barta? Krejci? We'll find 'em, Emily. Don't you worry." Billy tried to reassure his distraught friend.

"But Lee…" Emily's voice crackled as fear overwhelmed her. She lifted her head to stare blankly at Billy as she gasped, "He'll never trust me again… his whole world is shattered because of me."

Billy pursed his lips tightly together as a wave of anger rolled through him. "It's not your fault, Emily. And I will be damned sure to remind Lee of that fact."

"But it is… I knew what Barta was planning… I should have told Lee, right there, as soon as I saw him… but I didn't… and now… now…" Emily's sobs overtook her and she buried her head into her hands.

"Damn you, Scarecrow," Billy cursed under his breath. He reached out and depressed the call button for the nurse before he grabbed ahold of the handles of the wheelchair. "Don't worry, Emily. I'll be sure the nurse stays with you until I get back. It seems Scarecrow and I need to have a serious conversation."

"No… please! Bill…" Emily pleaded but Billy quickly dismissed her.

"Let me get Scarecrow into his room, Emily, and we'll talk when I get back."

Billy steered the chair toward the door. He was startled when the door flew open and the nurse rushed past him. "Mrs. Farnsworth… what's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"Not in the way you're thinking, nurse. Can you sit with Mrs. Farnsworth until I return?" Billy requested but the authoritative tone in his voice conveyed his true intention.

"Of course. I'll stay right here," the nurse assured him.

Angrily, Billy shoved the wheelchair out into the hallway where Lee sat waiting for him. "Get in," Billy demanded. He searched for any sign of Dr. Lore, the orderly, or Agent Martin. Not seeing anyone in the empty hallway, he pushed Lee down the hall to a door that read Equipment Closet. With a final glance around, Billy maneuvered Lee into the room.

"Why are we in here?" Lee questioned.

"What the hell is going through that thick head of yours, Scarecrow?" Billy snapped back at him.

Lee's jaw dropped open for a brief second. "What do you mean?"

"Emily. I've never seen her that rattled before… Ever!" Billy boomed. In the cramped space, his voice reverberated off the metal shelving units.

Lee shifted in the wheelchair and adjusted the sling on his arm. He lifted his chin defiantly. "She should have told me, Billy. She should have told me the second she saw Barta in the airport."

"She had no real reason to believe they were going to come after her," Billy reasoned.

"But she still knew Barta was there and she didn't tell me. She could have killed my family… killed them. And now, my son is laying upstairs in that bed all alone. My son, who had nothing to do with anything. He's an innocent bystander in this crazy hell of a job we have and he doesn't deserve to be in a coma because she didn't open her mouth!" Lee roared.

Billy swiped his hand across his mouth before dragging it down his chin. "You need to think hard and long about burning bridges right now, Scarecrow, because if you keep acting the way you are, Emily will be the biggest bonfire you've ever seen."

"Right now, the only thing I give a damn about is Amanda and William. They are my whole life. You know that. Yes, Philip, Jamie, and Dotty are important too but if anything were to happen to me, they would have Joe to help them move on. Without Amanda or William… what do I have?" Lee shook his head slowly before lowering his chin. "I'm left with nothing."

Billy inhaled sharply. "You can't think like that, Lee. Amanda's strong. You've seen her beat the odds how many times. She's going to get through this."

"And what about my son? My flesh and blood. How's he going to get through this? He's barely been sick a day in his short life and now he's in a coma with no clear sign of when he's going to come out of it. Why? Because the bad guys his father tries so hard to protect him from got to him anyway. All because someone else that claims to love him so much didn't say a word." The muscle in Lee's neck twitched as he clenched his jaw.

"I understand that but you have to stop blaming Emily! She isn't the enemy here." Billy threw his hands up.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Dr. Lore rushed into the small space.

"Mr. Stetson, I believe I made myself perfectly clear." Dr. Lore glared at Lee.

Lee tipped his head to defend himself when Dr. Lore turned his sights on Billy. "And you, Mr. Melrose. Is this how you treat a patient in the hospital? By trapping them in a closet and berating them?"

"Listen, doc," Billy began but was silenced quickly when Dr. Lore lifted the silver chart in his hand. He waved it several times, gesturing between the two men.

"I have Mrs. Stetson's results back but I refuse to give either one of you information until you get yourselves under control. I've never seen anything like this in my career. Two grown men shouting at each other in a closet. You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Dr. Lore paused to take a breath. "I could hear you down at the nurses' station. I didn't even have to go looking for you!"

"I'm sorry. I guess we let our tempers and frustrations get the better of us. It won't happen again," Billy muttered apologetically.

"You better believe it won't happen again because I will bar you from this hospital faster than you can spell your name," Dr. Lore snapped once more.